49ers lose another member from their 2025 draft to a season-ending injury

The San Francisco 49ers have another season-ending injury that happened before their season has even started. Defensive tackle Alfred Collins showed up on the injury report this week, and Kyle Shanahan later said it’s a torn patellar tendon suffered Monday. Collins will now be out for the season.

This marks another season-ending injury before the season has even started.

This certainly doesn’t bode well for the 49ers’ injury concerns and for Collins, who had flashes in 2025 but needed to get some consistency going in his second season as a pro.

The most recent example of an NFL player who weighs over 300 pounds missing time with a torn patellar tendon was Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Rashawn Slater. He missed the entire 2025 regular season after sustaining the injury in August 2025. His recovery time was 10 to 12 months. Slater returned to practice for the Chargers OTAs in June.

If all goes well, Collins will be ready for training camp in 2026. That’s the second player from the 2025 draft class we’re saying that about. Ricky Pearsall’s season ended in August after the team decided he needed surgery for his PCL.

The 49ers have Osa Odighizuwa, but the spot next to him seems a bit ambiguous. CJ West, Gracen Halton, and James Thompson Jr. are on the depth chart, but Thompson hasn’t been practicing.A practice squad call-up is probably in the cards with both injuries.

The 49ers are currently in Melbourne, Australia, preparing for the Los Angeles Rams. For Collins, this just sucks on a number of levels, especially days before his season gets started.

Last year, when the 49ers were on the road against the Rams, Collins helped stop the Rams from scoring on the 49ers’ own goal line, one of many impact plays the 49ers made to win a game many did not see them winning. Seeing a repeat would have been nice, but it won’t be happening this year.

Next man up.